The Existence of Hexafluoroarsenic(V) Acid

The homogeneous mixture of anhydrous hydrogen fluoride aHF and antimony pentafluoride AsF5 is known as a superacidic system. The high acidity is derived from the formation of [H2F](+) [AsF6](-). No experimental evidence exists for the existence of the free acid molecule HAsF6. The reaction of trimethylsilyl N,N-dimethylcarbamate in the binary system aHF/AsF5 led to decomposition of trimethylsilyl N,N-dimethylcarbamate at -50 degrees C to dimethylammonium hexafluoridoarsenate and cocrystallization of HAsF6. The single-crystal X-ray structure displays an HAsF6 molecule involved in an asymmetric hydrogen bridge to the hexafluoridoarsenate anion. As a result of the incalculable situation in the crystal lattice, the molecular structure of HAsF6 is calculated by quantum chemical structure optimization of the extreme cases of [FHF-AsF5](-) (strong hydrogen bond) and HAsF6 (no hydrogen bond) at the PBE1PBE/6-311G(3df,3pd) level of theory.